Listing on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

The Polish Stock Exchange

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) is currently one of the most powerful stock exchanges in Europe after becoming a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and of the Federation of European Securities Exchanges. Its membership to these two important organizations have helped the WSE to expand by attracting a record number of foreign companies seeking to list their shares in Poland. However, the WSE imposes several requirements to those wanting to trade in Poland. The following instruments are available for listing on the WSE:

• -          shares;
• -          bonds;
• -          allotments;
• -          futures;
• -          subscription rights;

Electronic trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange is also available since 2013. Our specialists in Poland can provide you with a list of all trading option available on the WSE.

Legislation related to trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange

There are several laws enabling foreign and Polish companies to list their shares or other instruments on the WSE. The most important ones are:

• -          the Act on Public Offering, Conditions Governing the Introduction of Financial Instruments to Organized Trading and Public Companies;
• -          the Act on Trading in Financial Instruments;
• -          the Act on Capital Market Supervision.

The relevant European legislation also applies, followed by the Polish Commercial Code and several regulations established by the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Requirements for companies listing their shares on the WSE

Companies are subject to various requirements in order to have their shares listed on the Polish Stock Exchange. Among these, the most important refer to capitalization and corporate structure. Also, the WSE provides for different regulations depending on the size of the company and on the market its shares will traded.

The following rules apply for companies seeking to list their shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange:

• -          the value of the shares traded must be at least 1 million euros;
• -          the shareholders may not hold together more than 5% of the shares in the company.

For small companies trading their shares on the parallel market, the minimum capitalization requirement is 10 million euros.

Considering the listing procedure implies several steps and other requirements, we invite you to contact our specialists in company registration in Poland for complete information about trading on the WSE.